Since we have data, Zhonya’s Hourglass has always been the most purchased item in League of Legends. The survivability of his active, combined with a little armor and a large dose of power, was a winning recipe every time. Even champions who didn’t take advantage of its stats used it to survive, as the 2.5 second stasis is far more than the best tanking items could ever provide. However, something has changed now that the preseason has arrived with patch 12.22.
The “new” most used object
Latest update made Blade of the Fallen King the most used item in the entire game. Although in percentage terms the gap with Zhonya’s hourglass is not very high, this anti-tank item has become the most purchased item by players at almost all ranks in the game. that in Gold the community more often favors the most popular item among mages, while at higher ranks that item may even fall to third or fourth position. An unprecedented situation.
The reasons for this state of affairs will not be unknown to players who have tested the new preseason. Although tanks aren’t the strongest characters based on win rate stats, they’ve become very common. Rare is the game where there isn’t at least one resistance-based character on every team, whether at the jungle or top lane level. This situation naturally favors the emergence of characters who can take advantage of an item that deals more damage to enemies as their max HP increases.
Indeed, the list of the most popular items is completed by the Kraken Slayer and the Titanic Hydra (the latter only at high MMRs). The former is also a great choice for dealing with enemies with higher resistances by providing massive bonus raw damage. The case of the object intended for fighters is a little more complex. The Titanic Hydra is not good on its own against tanks. However, it is used many times (Fiora, Camille, Wukong or Riven) in addition to other anti-tank objects. These are usually the Divine Slayer or the Black Cleaver.
What’s curious about this situation is that the many tools players have to deal with tanks and their extreme popularity undermines the effectiveness of the toughest champions. K’Sante, Sion and Ornn are the three most popular characters in this category. However, none of them is able to win more than 50% of the games. Neither did Cho’Gath and Dr. Mundo. Even more disturbing, four of the five champions mentioned above saw their performance deteriorate after the introduction of the latest patch.
Riot is in a bit of a sticky spot when it comes to long-term game balance. However, this is not the first time he has encountered a similar situation. Almost every preseason the game gets a bit chaotic, but ends up being in good shape for the start of the next season. In this case, the studio has more than a month and a half before the start of season 13. A time that they will devote to fixing all the problems that League of Legends may have.
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